The Crow Girl on Paramount+: All the explosive plot twists in the series finale - and news on series 2
By Helen FearThe Crow Girl has landed on Paramount+ and, if you're anything like us, you'll have binged all six episodes already - so here's our take on the jaw-dropping twists, as well as news on series 2.
The psychological thriller, based on the bestselling Erik Axl Sund novel of the same name, came to a very chilling conclusion with one of the biggest twists in TV history.
But there's still plenty of loose ends to tie up in a second run. Here's The Crow Girl ending explained, and what we know about a possible series 2.
***Warning: spoilers from The Crow Girl series 1 ahead***
The Crow Girl ending explained
The ridiculously addictive storyline of The Crow Girl followed DCI Jeanette Kilburn, who was called to investigate when the bodies of unidentified young men started to show up around Bristol. Tragically, they'd been beaten and pumped full of the anaesthetic Lidocaine.
The dedicated cop enlisted the help of psychotherapist Dr Sophia Craven to hunt the killer. But, little did she know, her new friend was WAY MORE involved than she could ever have imagined.
In fact, Sophia Craven (Katherine Kelly in the cast) was the beating heart of all the murders. Although she wasn't murdering the young boys herself, she knew who was. And made it her mission to bring the horrifying deaths to light. But we didn't know this until the big reveal in the final episode. That was when we discovered that Sophia was in fact Victoria Burkeman.
Oh and notice we didn't say she wasn't a murderer... She was most definitely a killer, which we found out later.
Who was the killer in The Crow Girl?
Well, there were quite a few killers - at least three (Victoria/Sophia, her dad Ben, and of course the unwitting fighters)! Remind us never to go to Bristol...
Horrifyingly, we discovered that middle-class, middle-aged men were at the centre of the deaths. These were dentist Carl Lowry, who was arrested for possessing indecent images of children, David White, the headteacher of Beecham School Peter Drake, farmer Vincent Dwyer, and Victoria's dad Ben.
Although we did not exactly find out how, an incriminating phone call from David in episode 6 proved they were involved - and they knew Sophia was coming for them.
Of course, the young boys - all asylum seekers in the UK - were being paid to take part in fights after being pumped full of drugs to dull the pain. Tragically, they were fights to the death. Once the fights ended, the 'loser', or rather the corpse, was taken away. This is where the farmer came in. He froze the bodies, and fed them to his pigs.
But Victoria/Sophia discovered this disgusting practice. She recovered the frozen bodies from the farm, cleaned their feet as a sign of respect, and deposited them somewhere public to be found by the police. And, of course, she choose to leave the dead bodies outside the homes or work places of the men involved.
Sadly, despite coming very close to uncovering the truth, Jeanette and her team did not manage to arrest those responsible. Something to digest in series 2 we think...
Who killed Martin Ryan?
Victoria's dad Ben murdered his daughter's childhood friend Martin Ryan. For what reason? Seemed to be pure spite - just because his child got along with him. He also used Martin's death as an excuse to gas light his daughter, blaming her for his death.
Ben later murdered his own daughter/grandaughter Madeleine when she tried to escape from him. Of course, Victoria - discovering what he'd done - tied him to a chair and set him on fire. Reader, we cheered.
Are Dr Sophia Craven and Victoria Burkeman the same person?
Yes, little Victoria Burkemen grew up to reinvent herself as Dr Sophia Craven. Victoria was sexually abused by her dad, while her mum turned a blind eye. Horrifically, Victoria became pregnant with her dad's child - Madeleine. However, dad from hell Ben Burkeman told Victoria she'd killed her own baby.
Years later, having escaped his vile clutches and believing her daughter was dead, she returned. Like a revenge-seeking missile, she choose to expose the lies and crimes taking place in Bristol.
We know Victoria/Sophia suffered from obsessional thinking, and had been through a severe trauma as a a child. Victoria was described as a fantasist, who suffered from alternative realities. When she spoke out about her abusive father, she wasn't believed.
This is all plenty to make Victoria grow up to be the "tainted" Dr Sophia Craven. Is Sophia suffering from dissociative disorder, a mental health condition that affects her sense of identity?
Did Jeanette and Sophie get together?
As if Sophia being revealed as the real Victoria wasn't shocking enough, the final episode of The Crow Girl showed Jeanette fall for Sophia's charms.
We know she was a bit distracted, what with her partner being corrupt, and her marriage falling apart, but COME ON Jeanette - wake up!
Their initial friendship grew into something more, and the pair finally kissed in the closing minutes of The Crow Girl ending.
That was around the same time we discovered that Sophia/Victoria had her mum tied up in her secret closet... As you do.
The Crow Girl ending explained: Who did Victoria or Sophia kill?
As far as we know, Victoria was guilty of killing her dad by setting him alight. Only after he had murdered their daughter Madeleine, though.
We also saw her stab self-confessed paedophile Carl Lowry to death as he lay in a hospital bed. So far, all revenge kills for men who 'deserved' it.
However, those who have read the book will know that the series has deviated from the novel with some of the killings.
What else happened in the final episode?
There was a lot to unpack in the final episode of The Crow Girl, but it never felt too hard to keep up with.
DCI Jeanette Kilburn had the difficult task of reporting her partner DI Lou Slater, who felt like family to her. She discovered he had used his position to sleep with a vulnerable witness. He also encouraged asylum seekers to sell drugs for money - making a profit for himself in the meantime.
Meanwhile, Jeanette's already shaky marriage collapsed as she and husband Alex agreed to part ways. That was shortly before Jeanette headed to Sophia's for some scissoring. Not very patient, is she?
Is there a series 2 of The Crow Girl?
Yes, we can confirm that The Crow Girl will be back for a series 2. At the end of The Crow Girl, as we picked our jaws back of the ground, the credits read "to be continued".
Although Paramount+ have not confirmed when a series 2 will land, we suspect it will be early 2026.
The Crow Girl on Paramount+ is adapted from the trilogy of novels by Erik Axl Sund – the pen name of Swedish author duo Jerker Eriksson, and Håkan Axlander Sundquist.
Three novels – The Crow Girl, The Hunger Fire and The Pythia's Instructions – form the internationally best-selling trilogy about Victoria Bergman. They were eventually merged into a single volume called The Crow Girl.
But, for the purposes of the TV show, it has been separated into different series. Fans of the books will know that there's much more to Victoria/Sophia than we've seen in series 1. So we'd expect series 2 to tie up all the loose ends, bang up those responsible for the illegal fighting, and expose Sophia for who she really is.